| This thesis examines the social gap between conventional and organic farmers in Nova Scotia. The separation is manifested in a number of symbolic and aesthetic assertions made by both groups. For instance, conventional farmers are more likely to pay close attention to neat, well-mown lawns and clipped hedges, while organic farmers prefer the "wild look" on their farms, leaving hedges and lawns to grow unrestrained. Each group also marks the separation by making negative ethical assertions relating to the other group. It is argued that these surface tensions mark strong differences in each group's political economic positioning.;Two such differences are chosen for discussion: class and relationship to place. Organic farmers are far more likely than conventional farmers to have university degrees in subjects unrelated to farming, and conventional farmers are more like than organic farmers to have experience in working-class jobs such as logging and mining.;Organic farmers also exhibit a greater geographical mobility than conventional farmers. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
